EXIST-Women: Support program for female founders launched
Ten female-led startup ideas will be supported at TU Hamburg for one year
10.04.2024
Colipi, Infinite Roots, Recalm, Suena - these four start-ups have recently raised a total of over 40 million euros in investment funds and show how successful spin-off companies from Hamburg University of Technology can be. The three TU start-ups Nüwiel, LignoPure and Traceless also stand for successful projects under female leadership. Nevertheless, the number of female founders at the TU Hamburg is still low compared to the rest of Germany. The university's start-up campus "Startup Port @TUHH" aims to actively change this.
The "EXIST-Women @TUHH" program will support a total of ten female founders at TU Hamburg starting April 10th. From the initial idea to advanced concepts, a lot of different projects are being included: one founder, for example, is working on designing a digital driving lesson service. Her company aims to help young people reduce the cost of accompanied driving lessons and thus the overall cost of the driving test. Another student at Hamburg University of Technology is working on an idea to help travelers navigate better through large airport buildings with their many stores and gates.
The EXIST-Women funding program offers female founders a scholarship, mentors, workshops on topics such as sharpening ideas and legal issues, networking events and the use of the TU start-up campus "Startup Port @TUHH". They are also deliberately networked with female founders who have already received support in the past in order to facilitate exchange on topics such as care work or founding start-ups in male-dominated areas.
Christian Salzmann, Executive Director of the "Startup Port @TUHH", says: "Unfortunately, the number of female founders is generally rather low. The EXIST-Women program is a great help for our start-up campus at the TU Hamburg to be able to recognize how women can be specifically motivated to found and to support them. We urgently need the expertise of this group. It is very important to us to significantly increase the number of female founders at TU Hamburg."
About the "EXIST-Women" funding program
The nationwide funding program "EXIST-Women" supports female founders from universities and research institutions and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection. Universities and research institutions whose start-up network has established or is planning to establish advisory services for female founders and would like to conclude optional scholarship agreements with female founders are eligible to apply. The program is offered at six other universities in the Hamburg metropolitan region in addition to the TU Hamburg, whose cooperation is coordinated by the "Startup Port" network. The close cooperation between the universities directly benefits the female founders, who can also take advantage of cross-university offers.
See also: https://www.tuhh.de/startupport/en/welcome-1-1
TUHH - Public Relations Office
Kaja Weber
E-Mail: kaja.weber@tuhh.de
